Wow! First of all, thank you so much for all the feedback and comments I got as I entered the blogging world last week!
Zen Attitude
This week, I’d like to write about Communications 
I know, wide topic, isn’t it?
I’d like to particularly focus on the non-verbal one, defined as “The process of sending and receiving wordless messages by means of facial expressions, gaze, gestures, postures, and tones of voice.”
Firstly, a few stats on non-verbal communication:
• 1872, Charles Darwin, wrote “The expression of the emotions in Man and Animals” and said that all mammals show emotions in their faces
• 1970, Ray Birdwhistell, wrote “Kinesics and context: Essays on body motion communication” and estimated that the average person speaks words for a total of 10/11 minutes a day (I guess being in the talking business, I am not considered as “average”!) and he also estimated that we make and recognise about 250,000 facial expressions per day; he determined that the verbal component of a face-to-face conversation is less than 35% and that more than 65% of communication is done non-verbally
• 1971, Albert Mehrabian, wrote “Silent messages” and referenced his communication model for the effectiveness of spoken communications by saying that only 7% of a message is verbally communicated, while 93% is transmitted non-verbally (55% body language and 38% tone of voice); read here for more details to ensure that these stats are not taken out of context!
To sum up, non-verbal communication can account for as much as 80% of communication!!!
So, let’s take a moment to think and realise what this really means…!
It is not what you say, but how you say it that makes the most impact. Knowing this, think of all the things you can do right now to improve or enhance your interpersonal relationships. Become aware of the way you communicate non-verbally; pay attention to your body language, facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, posture…
This makes a lot of sense to me!!! When I was growing up, people around me would say 2 things, over and over again: “I can read you like a book” and “That’s a killer look”! Ahaha! I have now become aware of both, and even though I have not necessarily changed anything, particularly for the face, as I like to be as genuine as possible, knowing this, has helped me become more in control on how I come across and being able to close the book in some situations!
So, for the next few days (and onwards!), how about we all pay extra attention to our non-verbal communication? And ensure that the signals we are sending do match the words we are saying, as this will create powerful and congruent messages!
I look forward to hearing from you, your comments and feedback are appreciated! Remember, if you’d like to see a particular change topic discussed in here, let me know.
On that note and till next time!
Let your inner pumpkin shine,
Frederique
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Frederique Murphy
Simply Transformed
